Dispensing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A DISPOSAL-DISPENSING UNIT FOR DISPENSING PARTICULATE MATERIAL IN WHICH A SUBSTANTIALLY ENCLOSED CONTAINER HAVING AN OPENING IN THE BOTTOM THEREOF IS SEALED BY A RESILIENT OPEN-CELLED ELASTOMERIC ROLL WHICH IS ROTATABLY SUPPORTED IN BIASING CONTACT WITH THE WALLS OF SAID OPENING TO RETAIN PARTICULATE MATERIAL THEREIN. FURTHER MEANS ARE PROVIDED EXTERIOR THE CONTAINER FOR ROTATING THE ROLL SEQUENTIALLY   THROUGH THE TONER MATERIAL IN THE CONTAINER WHEREIN THE OPEN-CELLED CAVITIES ON THE ROLL SURFACE ARE UNIFORMLY LOADED WITH PARTICULATE MATERIAL, AND THEN PAST AT LEAST ONE BIASING WALL WHERE THE ROLL SURFACE IS DEFORMED SUFFICIENTLY TO FORCE THE PARTICULATE MATERIAL FROM THE ROLL SURFACE INTO THE DISPENSING OPENING.

Jan. 8, 1974 F. w. HUDSON E'T'AL Re. 27,876

DISPENSING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 6, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 1FREDERICK W. HUDSON WILLIAM C. EMERSON A 7' TORNE Y Jan. 8, 1974 F. w.HUDSON ETAL Re. 27,876

DISPENSING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Feb. 6, 1969 Jan.8, 1974 F. w. HUDSON ETAL Re. 27,876

DISPENSING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 6, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan.8, 1974 F. w. HUDSON E'IAL Re. 27,876

DISPENSING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 6, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 UnitedStates Patent Oflice Reissued Jan. 8, 1974 27,876 DISPENSING APPARATUSFredrick W. Hudson, West Henrietta, and William C.

Emerson, Rochester, N.Y., assignors to Xerox Corporation, Rochester,N.Y.

Original No. 3,596,807, dated Aug. 3, 1971, Ser. No. 796,964, Feb. 6,1969. Application for reissue Aug. 25, 1972, Ser. No. 283,882

Int. Cl. G01f 11/20 US. Cl. 222-181 6 Claims Matter enclosed in heavybrackets II appears in the original patent but forms no part of thisreissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates the additionsmade by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A disposal-dispensing unit for dispensingparticulate material in which a substantially enclosed container havingan opening in the bottom thereof is sealed by a resilient open-celledelastomeric roll which is rotatably supported in biasing contact withthe walls of said opening to retain particulate material therein.Further means are provided exterior the container for rotating the rollsequentially through the toner material in the container wherein theopen-celled cavities on the roll surface are uniformly loaded withparticulate material, and then past at least one biasing wall where theroll surface is deformed sufficiently to force the particulate materialfrom the roll surface into the dispensing opening.

This application is a reissue of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,807, issuedAug. 3, 1971.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for dispensingfinely divided powders or granular materials and, in particular, toimprovements in xerographic tonerdispensing apparatus.

More specifically, this invention relates to a xerographic tonercontainer having dispensing means associated therewith that isparticularly adapted for use in conjunction with a xerographicdeveloping apparatus. Basically, in the art of xerography, a plateformed of a photoconductive surface placed over a conductive backing isuniformly charged and the surface of the plate then exposed to a lightimage of an original which is to be copied. The photoconductive layerbecomes conductive under the influence of the light image to selectivelydissipate the charge found thereon thus forming a latent electrostaticimage. To make this latent image visible, a finely divided pigmentedresinbased material, commonly referred to as toner, is first charged toa potential opposite to that of the latent electrostatic image and thenwhile still in a charged state, brought into contact with the latentimage where the charged toner particles are attracted to the imageareas. The developer image is usually transferred from the plate surfaceto a final support material and fixed thereto to form a permanent recordof the original.

The resin-based toners employed in the practice of the xerographicprocess are generally blended from finely subdivided materials to yieldan extremely fine powder composition having an average particle size ofabout 10 microns. As used in most automatic xerographic reproducingapparatus, the fine toner particles are brought into rubbing contactwith a triboelectrically remote and relatively coarser carrier material.The rubbing or mixing action causes the toner particles to becometriboelectrically charged to a polarity opposite that of the carrier.The charged toner particles electrostatically coat themselves on thesurface of the coarser carrier material and remain bonded there in acharged state. The two-component material is then brought into contactwith an image bearing photoconductive plate where the toner iselectrostatically transferred from the carrier surface to the latentimage areas to effect development. As can be seen, the coarser carrierparticles not only provide a means for charging the toner material butalso provide a vehicle by which the toner particles are convenientlyhandled and transported in the xerographic development apparatus.

In order to sustain continuous operation in an automatic device, thetoner material consumed in the development process must be periodicallyreplaced within the development system. New toner material hasheretofore been packaged in supply bottles or containers and thematerial poured directly from the container into dispensing apparatusassociated with the automatic developing equipment. This pouring processhas proven to be wasteful and dirt producing because some airborne tonerparticles migrate away from the intended receiving device onto thesurrounding area where they clog machine parts or soil equipment and/orclothing. Furthermore, with the advent of new and faster xerographicprocessing equipment, it has been found that most known devices fordispensing this particulate material are incapable of handling anduniformly dispensing large amounts of material in the short period oftime required to maintain the developer ratio at the desired level.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to improve apparatusfor handling and dispensing of finely divided particulate materials.

A further object of this invention is to improve automatic xerographicdevelopment apparatus by minimizing the handling of xerographic tonermaterials.

Another object of this invention is to provide a relatively dirt-freetoner container and dispensing apparatus for adding new toner materialto an automatic xerographic developing apparatus.

These and other objects of the present invention are attained by meansof a substantially enclosed container arranged to sup-port a quantity offinely divided particulate material, the container having an openingtherein through which the material is dispensed, a cylindricaldispensing roll formed of a resilient foamed clastorneric materialhaving a textured outer surface formed of a plurality of open-celledcavities adapted to receive and support therein particulate material,means to rotatably support the roll within the container, in or adjacentto the opening with the roll surface in biasing contact with theinterior wall surface of the container to form a movable seal forretaining particulate material within the container, means operativelyconnected to the roll to rotate the roll sequentially through thematerial in the container to load the open-celled cavities and then pastat least one of the biasing surfaces wherein the surface of the roll isdeformed sufficiently to cause toner thereon to be dispensed from theroll surface into the dispensing opening.

For a better understanding of the present invention as well as otherobjects and further features thereof reference is bad to the followingdescription of the invention to be read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a preferred embodiment of thexerographic apparatus adapted for automatic and continuous operation andincorporating a toner container and dispensing apparatus in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial elevation in partial section showing the tonercontainer and dispensing apparatus of the present invention mounted inoperative relation with the xerographic developer housing illustrated inFIG. 1 showing the toner container having an opening in the end wallthereof through which the contents of the container may be replenishedwith new material without removing the container from the developerhousing.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the toner dispenser of the presentinvention illustrated in FIG. 1 partially broken away to illustrateseveral elements of the mechanism and showing a suitable dispenser drivemeans and a bridge-eliminating mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the toner dispenser of the present inventiontaken along lines 44 shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged end view in section showing the toner dispenserroll and associated biasing mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial side elevation of the toner dispenser of the presentinvention illustrating the dispenser roll mounted in a position todispense toner material through the sidewall of a xerographic developerhousing;

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an embodiment of the subjectinvention in the suitable environment such as an automatic xerographicreproducing machine having a xerographic plate including aphotoconductive layer 10 placed on a conductive backing and formed inthe shape of a drum 11. The drum is mounted on shaft 12 which isjournaled for rotation in the machine frame so as to rotate in thedirection indicated by the arrow thus causing the drum surface tosequentially pass through a plurality of xerographic processingstations.

For the purpose of the present disclosure, the several xerographicprocessing stations in the path of movement of the drum surface may bedescribed functionally as follows:

A charging station 1, at which a uniform electrostatic charge isdeposited on the photoconductive layer of the drum surface;

an exposure station 2, at which a light or radiation pattern of anoriginal document supported on platen 14 is projected through means of amirror and lens projection system onto the surface of the drum todissipate the charge found therein in the exposed areas thus forming alatent electrostatic image;

a developing station 3, at which a two-component xerographic developingmaterial including toner particles having an electrostatic chargeopposite to the electrostatic latent image on the drum surface arecascaded over the drum wherein the toner particles are attracted intothe electrostatic latent image areas to form a xerographic powder imagein the configuration of the original document supported on the platen;

a transfer station 4, at which the xerographic powder image is broughtinto contact with a final support material and is electrostaticallytransferred from the drum surface 11 to a final support and the finalsupport stripped from the drum and forwarded along vacuum transport 7; adrum cleaning and discharge station 5, at which the drum surface isbrushed to remove residual toner particles remaining thereon after imagetransfer and at which time the drum surface is exposed to a light energysource to effect substantially complete discharge of any residualelectrostatic image remaining thereon.

After transfer, the image-bearing support material is transported bymeans of vacuum transport 8 to a fixing station 6 wherein the supportmaterial is passed between a pair of cooperating fuser rolls adapted todeliver a combination of pressure and heat to the image-bearing surfaceof sufficient magnitude to permanently fix the image to the support.Upon leaving the fuser rolls, the final support material is transportedby means of a second vacuum transport system 9 to a copy dischargestation 7 where the copy is collected and stored in copy tray 13.

In the specific arrangement shown in FIG. 1, a developer conveyor systemincluding a plurality of transverse buckets 15 that are horizontallysupported between two endless belts 16 positioned on opposite sides ofthe developer housing and which extend over pulleys 17 that are fixedupon transverse shafts 18 and 19. For actuating the toner conveyorsystem, upper shaft 18 is driven through means of a belt and motorarrangement (not shown) that causes the conveyor system to be rotated inthe direction indicated while the machine is in operation. The developermaterial conveyed upwardly by the conveyor system is discharged into anentrance chute (not shown) that extends transversely across the entiredeveloping system structure and which also extends downwardly to directthe flow of developer material into contact with the moving xerographicdrum surface where, as noted above, the toner particles areelectrostatically pulled away from the carrier components and depositedon the drum surface to develop the latent image. The toner depletecarrier particles then pass off the drum surface and are directed backinto the lower sump of developer housing 20. As the toner powder imagesare formed, additional toner particles must be supplied to the developermaterial in proportion to the amount of toner deposited on the drumsurface. To supply additional toner to the developer material there isprovided a toner-dispensing unit comprising a container 30 and adispensing apparatus 50 that con stitutes one form of the subject matterof the present invention.

It is believed that the foregoing description is sufficient for purposesof the present application to show the general operation of thexerographic reproducing apparatus employing a toner container anddispensing apparatus constructed in accordance with the presentinvention. Although not shown, suitable drive means are also provided todrive the drum, sheet feed mechanisms, developer conveyors, and otheroperating mechanisms at predetermined speeds relative to each other forproper machine operation. For further details concerning specificconstruction of the xerographic apparatus shown herein, reference is hadto US. Pat. No. 3,301,126 issued in the name of Robert S. Osborne, etal.

In connection with the function and manner of operation of the tonerdispensing unit herein disclosed, it is deemed desirable at this pointto briefly discuss the problems and terms related to the handling anddispensing of fine particulate material. As previously noted, because ofits nature, finely divided material is extremely difiicult to handle anduniformly dispense. Another interesting characteristic associated withminute toner particles is that under certain conditions closely relatedto humidity and temperature the toner particles will agglomerate or packtogether so tightly that they will literally become a solid mass. Theagglomeration of powder particles may also be elfected as a result ofcold flow, that is, although the particles may not be at a sufficientlyhigh temperature, the material may be viscous enough to cause theparticles to weakly adhere to each other. In any event, toner materialsupported within a container as herein disclosed is capable of blockingor forming bridges therein which will impede the normal downward flow ofmaterial.

In the form of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, atoner-dispensing unit of the present invention includes a container 30constructed of two substantially parallel end walls 42 and 43, twosidewalls 54 and 55, and a top surface 56 that are integrally connectedto their respective corners to form a substantially enclosed receptacle.The bottom portions of the two sidewalls are turned inwardly andcooperate with the end walls to form an elongated opening 48 in thebottom of the container. The inclined surface of the sidewalls functionto direct particulate material supported within the container downwardlytowards the bottom opening 48. Preferably the container is formed of ablow-molded thermoplastic material which is relatively rigid at roomtemperatures. Typical resin-based materials from which this type ofcontainer can be molded are polypropylenes, polyethylenes, chlorinatedpolyethers, acrylonitrile butadine styrene, polystyrene, acetates,fluorocarbons, and methyl methacrylate. Care should be taken however toselect the thermoplastic resin from a group of thermoplastic materialswhich are chemically inert in respect to the composition of theparticulate material supported therein.

The dispensing apparatus 50 includes a dispensing roll 51 adapted tosupport a quantity of particulate material thereon which is mountedwithin the container on shaft 52 so that the roll is adjacent to thedispensing opening 48. The roll is securely affixed to the shaft, as forexample by gluing and the shaft journaled for rotation in bearing blocks54 and 57 provided in the lower end walls of the container. Theleft-hand end 54 (FIG. 4) of shaft 52 extends through the end wall ofthe container and has a series of parallel axially aligned recesses (notshown) machined therein which are adapted to receive a drive means inoperative relation therein. The dispensing roll can be formed from anynumber of foamed elastomeric materials having a textured open-celledsurface structure made up of a mass of small hollow cavities capable ofreceiving and supporting a quantity of particulate material therein.Typical examples of foamable materials that can be formed in open-celledconfiguration are polyurethanes, polyvinyl chloride, silicones,polystyrenes, styrene acrylonitrile, cellulose acetate, and phenolics.Foaming of these materials can be accomplished either by mechanicalfrothing, physically dissolving a gas or liquid within the resinmaterial, or chemically incorporating a foaming or blowing agentdirectly into the material which is capable of releasing an inert gaswithin the resin when the temperature is increased.

A typical roll for use in this preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is one fabricated of a urethane foam. Urethane foams arecellular plastics formed by the reaction of a polyol and isocyanate,generally in the presence of a catalyst. The two materials react rapidlyin the presence of tertiary amines, in combination with stannous orother metallic salts, to produce a material which is relatively strongyet resilient at room temperature. The term resiliency is used herein todescribe the property of a material which has been deformed to rapidlyrecover its original posture after the force of deformation is removed.It is found that by varying the ratio of raw materials and the foamingconditions, a flexible polyurethane foam having a broad spectrum ofdesired end properties can be produced. For example, cell formation canbe stabilized by chemically foaming the urethane in the presence of asurfactant capable of controlling the size of the gas bubbles to promoteuniform cell formation. Silicones and/or organic surfactants, generallyionic, are widely used to control the expansion of gas bubbles. It hasbeen found that by properly choosing materials and by controlling cellstructure, it is possible to form a foamed polyurethane dispensing rollof high tensile strength and having good resiliency which is capable ofdelivering a D tending horizontally across the width of the container insubstantially parallel relationship. The two upper bosses 55 arepositioned interior the container while the two lower bosses arepositioned adjacent to the dispensing opening. As illustrated in FIG. 5,the protruding bosses extend outwardly from the inner wall surfaces todepress, or mechanically bias, the curved surface of the resilient roll.The two parallel ends of roll 51 are also biased into contact with theinterior fiat surface of end walls 42 and 43 so that the entireperiphery of the roll is in contact with the interior surface of thecontainer. Suflicient pressure is maintained between the roll and theinterior of the container to prevent unwanted toner from passingtherebetween. In effect, the resilient roll functions to form a movableseal capable of retaining toner material within the container. Inpractice, it has been found that a polyurethane roll having an outsidediameter of about 1.125 inches is capable of forming a seal in thebottom of a blowmolded container as herein described to prevent tonerparticles of an average size of approximately 10 microns from passingbetween the roll surface and the interior surface of the container whenthe peripheral roll surface is depressed to a depth of approximately Vof an inch.

The dispensing unit, comprising toner container 30 and dispensing rollsupported therein, is operatively mounted upon the developer housing 20in a condition whereby the toner in the container can be directlydispensed into the developer mix supported within the housing. A pair ofsupport members and 61 are securely affixed to the sidewalls of thedeveloper housing as for example by welding. The support members extendhorizontally across the width of the housing and cooperate to define anelongated opening 59 into which container 30 can be slidably received.The top surfaces of the support members are turned to form horizontalflanges which are arranged to coact with support surfaces 71 formed inthe exterior sidewalls of the container to hold the container in anupright position when mounted on the developer housing. Two upper rails75 and two lower rails 76 are formed on the interior surfaces of thesupport members and extend horizontally across the opening 59. The railsare arranged to contact the arcuate section 77 in the lower side Wallsof the container and function to guide and further support the containerwhen the container is situated between the support members. One end ofthe opening described by the support members is open to receive thecontainer in sliding relationship between the rails. The opposite end ofthe opening is closed by means of end plate 63.

To operatively mount the container on the developer housing, the arcuateportions 77 of the container sidewalls are inserted between the guiderails and the container surfaces 71 securely seated on horizontalflanges 7 0. The container is then moved laterally along the rails untilcontainer end wall 43 is arrested by end plate 63. With end wall 43seated against end plate 63, opening 48 of the container is aligned withopening 59 in the developer housing and the container is now in acondition to dispense toner material directly into the developer mixtherein. Hand holds 32, which are formed in the top of the container,and handle 31 affixed to end wall 42 are provided to facilitateinsertion and removal of the container between the support members.

When the container is mounted upon the support members as describedabove, the extended portion 54 of the shaft 52 passes through end plate63 and is coupled to drive shaft 70 by means of coupling 78. The hub end72 of the coupling is pinned to drive shaft 70. A series of flexiblearms 73 are positioned circumferentially about the hub. As shown in FIG.4. the free ends of the arms are turned outwardly to permit the extendedend of shaft 52 to be inserted therebetween. The flexible arms arearranged to ride in the recesses machined in the end of shaft 52 totranslate the rotation motion of the drive shaft 70 to the dispensingshaft 52. Shaft 70 is journaled in drive housing 64 and has a gear 71securely affixed to the housed end thereof. Gear 71 is in turn,operatively connected to motor MOT-1 (FIG. 3) through means of a gearingarrangement which is not shown and provides the driving power to rotatethe dispenser roll in the direction indicated.

As previously noted, the resilient roll cooperates with the internalsurface of the container to provide a movable seal for preventingunwanted toner from escaping from the container. In operation, the rollalso functions to deliver a substantially uniform and even quantity ofparticulate material across the dispensing opening. It has been foundthat the indivdual cell-like cavities on the roll surface become loadedwith toner particles as the roll is rotated through a quantity of suchmaterial. Although the exact loading mechanism is not clearlyunderstood, it is believed that the individual cavities fill themselvesin a scooplike manner as they are moved through the fine granularmaterial much as an open-mouthed container would fill itself if pulledopening first through a quantity of sand. Because the walls of thecavities are resilient, the cavities also have the unique quality ofgrasping and holding the particulate material that is received therein.By forming the cavities to a substantially uniform size, each individualcell is capable of loading itself with approximately an equal amount ofmaterial. Furthermore, the formation of a uniform cell size insures thatthe material is evenly distributed across the surface of the roll. Ineffect, the foamed elastomeric roll as herein disclosed is not only aself loading device but also has the capability of storing and holding auniformly distributed load across the surface of the member.

After moving through the supply of particulate material in thecontainer, the toner ladened roll surface then moves sequentially pastupper boss 72, the curved section 77 of sidewall 45, and lower boss 76before passing into dispensing opening 48. As noted above, the rollsurface is compressed slightly by upper boss 72 to prevent the supply ofmaterial in the container from escaping. However, the mechanical biasingpressure is insuflicient to destroy the rolls unique loading and holdingproperties. Although some toner may be dislodged as the deformed rollsurface is moved past the protruding surface, the amount of tonerremoved is equally distributed across the roll surface so that theuniformity of loading is relatively undisturbed. After moving past boss72, the resilient roll recovers slightly and comes in sliding contactwith the interior surface of arcuate wall section 77. The curved wallsurface acts to constrain the roll surface to further support the tonerparticles within the cavities as the roll is forwarded toward thedispensing opening.

It has been found that two distinct mechanisms, used alone or incombination, can be employed to remove particulate material from thesurface of the open-celled elastomeric roll. The first method is todeform the resilient roll surface just prior to its entering thedispensing opening so that further rotation of the roll causes the rollsurface to spring back to its original posture as it passes into theopening. It should be understood that the roll is suificiently deformedso that the toner in/on the roll surface is mechanically thrown into theopening as the roll recovers. Secondly, the particulate material canalso be mechanically pushed from the roll surface by means of astationary compressing member or the like place in interference with theroll surface. As the roll moves toward the stationary compressingmember, the surface of the roll is deformed to enlarge the cavityopenings. Further movement of the roll into the member causes thegranular material to be pushed or forced from the surface of the roll.

In the instant embodiment of the present invention, both methods ofremoving toner material from the roll surface I are employed. However,it should be quite clear that either of these two methods could be usedalone or in any combination thereof to dispense material from the rollsurface without departing from the teachings of the present invention.Referring now specifically to FIG. 5, two bosses 73 which protrude intothe path of movement of the roll surface are located on the sidewalls ofthe container adjacent to container opening 48. As the roll is rotatedin the direction indicated the right-hand boss as shown in FIG. 5, actsto compress the roll prior to its entrance into opening 48. Tonermaterial supported in the surface cavities is mechanically thrown fromthe roll surface as the resilient roll moving into the opening springsback to its original shape. Further rotation of the roll through theopening brings the roll surface into biasing contact with a second boss73 associated with sidewall 54 of the container. The second protrudingboss pushes against the up wardly moving roll surface to scrap or pushany toner material from the roll which may still be remaining thereonfrom the cavities. By using this two step toner removal technique,complete and thorough toner dispensing is accomplished within thedispensing opening.

An antibridging device is provided in the present apparatus to insurethat a continuous flow of toner material moves downwardly through thecontainer into contact with the dispensing roll. As previously noted,finely divided particulate material, under certain conditions, tends toagglomerate and/or form bridges in the container to impede the flowwithin the container. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a rubber-headed striker68 is periodically tapped against the sidewall of the container withsufficient force to dislodge or breakup bridges and agglomerates. Thestriker is mounted on a flexible arm 66 which is, in turn, would intorsion spring fashion about shaft 67 to hold the striker 68 in contactwith the container. A lifting mechanism (not shown) acting against thespring force is operatively connected to control unit and periodicallyraises the striker and arm assembly away from the sidewall of thecontainer. Releasing the arm causes the striker to hit the side of thecontainer with sufficient force to eliminate bridging or blocking of thetoner. Because the present dispensing roll is not dependent on apressure head for its operation, it is capable of dispensing entirelyall the particulate material that is brought into contact with itssurface. This unique function of the roll coupled with the antibridgingmechanism gives the dispensing container of the instant invention thecapability of entirely emptying the contents of the container.

In order to maintain the automatic xerographic apparatus in conditionfor continuous operation, it is contemplated that a toner depletedispensing unit will be replaced in the apparatus with a second freshlycharged unit. The first unit may be refilled with particulate materialor disposed of, as desired. However, it is quite probable, and incertain instances desirable, that the unit be left in the machine andrecharged with particulate material as needed. In this case, asillustrated in FIG. 2, the front end of the container is provided withan opening arranged to receive a screw-on cap 34 through which the newtoner material may be added directly into the dispensing unit withoutremoving the unit from the support rails.

Furthermore, the dispensing apparatus of the present invention is notlimited to dispensing toner material downwardly through the bottom of acontainer. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the dispensing roll may be mountedin the container so that particulate material contained therein isdispensed sidewardly through the sidewall of a xerographic developerhousing or the like. Dependent guide and support members 91, 92 areformed in the sidewall 96 of the developer housing and are arranged sothat the guide rails surfaces therein receive in sliding relation thesidewalls 93 and 94 of the toner container 95. To further support thecontainer in relation to the developer housing, a female support rail inthe sidewall 96 is arranged to coact with male support rail 98 molded inthe toner container. Dispensing unit 50 is rotatably mounted in thelower portion of the toner container and comprises a resilient opencelled dispensing roll 51 securely affixed to shaft 52. The resilientroll functions, as herein described to seal the particulate material inthe container and to dispense a uniform quantity of toner materialthrough dispensing opening as the roll is rotated in the directionindicated.

While this invention has been described with reference to the structuredisclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and thisapplication is intended to cover modifications and changes which maycome within the following claims.

We claim:

[1. Apparatus to dispense a finely divided xerographic toner including ahousing having end walls and elongated sidewalls for retaining tonertherein, said end walls and sidewalls coacting to form an elongatedopening in the bottom of the housing,

a resilient cylindrical member having an outer surface formed of anopened celled material having cavities of such a size as to be capableof holding therein toner to be transported thereby, the open celledcavities also being of such a size that when expanded they are capableof permitting toner to *be discharged therefrom,

a loading station above and in communication with said cylindricalmember,

a discharge station beneath and in communication with said cylindricalmember,

said sidewalls positioned to extend downwardly terminating in bossmembers extending a substantial distance into said cylindrical member toexpand the open-celled cavities at the loading station which is locatedbetween said boss members,

supplemental boss means below said first mentioned boss membersextending a substantial distance into said cylindrical member adjacentsaid discharge station whereat said open-celled cavities are expanded topermit the toner to be discharged therefrom,

an intermediate conveying zone between said stations Whereat saidopen-celled cavities are maintained in a nonexpanded state for retainingtoner therein and transport means for rotating said cylindrical memberwhereby sequential portions of its surface move through said loadingstation whereat toner is received into the expanded open-celled cavitiesthereof through said conveying zone with the open-celled cavities in anonexpanded state and through said discharge station whereat the toneris discharged from the expanded open-celled cavities] [2. The apparatusas set forth in claim 1 wherein said end walls and said sidewalls extendupwardly to form a bottle for containing toner to be dispensed] [3. Theapparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cylindrical member isformed of an elastomeric 'polyurethane foamed rub'ben] [4. The apparatusas set forth in claim 1 and further including means associated therewithto periodically tap at least one of said walls to prevent toner materialfrom agglomerating] 5. A totally enclosed toner containing anddispensing unit capable of being operatively mounted upon and removedfrom a xerographic developing system including guide means associatedwith the developing system for slidably receiving a toner containing anddispensing unit therein and guiding said unit into an operative positionin relation to said developer system, said toner containing anddispensing unit comprising an enclosed container for supporting aquantity of finely divided toner material, said container having anelongated opening formed by the cooperation of the sidewalls andendwalls thereof through which toner is capable of being dispensed fromsaid container and further comprising,

a movable seal rotatably supported within said elongated opening forpreventing toner from escaping from said container when said movableseal is in a stationary condition and for dispensing toner from thecontainer when said seal is rotated,

said container having rail means complementary to said guide meanswhereby said container is capable of being slidably received by saidguide means and moved into an operative position in regard to saiddeveloping unit,

drive means operatively associated with said developing system beingcapable of imparting a rotating motion to said movable seal, and

coupling means operatively associated with said movable seal extendingoutside said container and being arranged to engage said drive meanswhen said container is moved to an operative position.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said container is funnelled towardssaid elongated opening by inwardly extending the sidewalls thereof.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said rail means are located upon theinwardly extending sidewalls of said container substantially oppositesaid movable seal.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said container is formed of a blowmolded plastic material.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said movable seal comprises an opencelled elastomeric formed polyurethane material resiliently urged intobiasing contact against the sidewalls of said elongated opening.

10. The apparatus of claim 5 further including means to periodicallyagitate said container to prevent toner supporting therein fromagglomerating.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are ofrecord in the patented file of this patent or the original patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,800,252 7/1957 Wahl 222-196 X 3,147,890 9/1964Mittelsteadt 222-325 X 3,204,832 9/1965 Barber 222-196 1,090,120 3/1914Scott 222-202 3,608,792 9/1971 Hudson 222-407 2,329,666 9/1943 Syverud222-414 X 3,128,015 4/1964 Wallis 222-414 X 3,172,574 3/1965 Hiler et a1222-414 X 3,224,649 12/1965 Gunto 222-199 3,399,652 9/1968 Gawron 222-57X 3,459,337 8/1969 Williamson 222-333 X 1,855,214 4/1932 Alton 222-414ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner D. A. SCHERBEL, Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

